


A Sacred Lot

by DraconicHex



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen, anyway it's time for some backstory, by which i mean my extensive headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-07 00:45:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8776429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DraconicHex/pseuds/DraconicHex
Summary: Reimu Hakurei, a girl from the Human Village, has always been alone. But a vocation which seems to imply loneliness in all but name seems to be her first chance for making lasting relationships. As she takes on the role of shrine maiden, her world expands, and then contracts again thanks to the harsh reality of the position.





	1. Chapter 1

Keine Kamishirasawa sighed. The children had finally left for the day, and it was time for her to relax, and not think about tiny beings pestering her about why all the history she taught about had happened, and why they weren’t in the textbooks themselves, and why they had to learn about all this if it never would apply to them. 

 

She poured herself a cup of tea, sunk into her chair, and was about to pick up the book she’d been trying to finish for the past ten days yet had been denied the chance to due to interruptions, and promptly was interrupted.

 

The interruption, quite calmly, was sitting in midair in front of her, with a fan in her gloved hand.

 

Apparently no reading would be done today.

 

Keine put a hand to her head and questioned the intruder: “Why are you here this time? I have a feeling it isn’t just for a pleasant chat.”

 

The intruder nodded. “As you should be aware, the current Hakurei is nearing the age of twenty. The time when she should take on an apprentice.”

 

Oh. That’s why she’d come to Keine.

 

“And I’m assuming that the sages wish to choose one of my students? Despite the fact that the majority of them haven’t even reached ten years of age, and they’ll be going into training for a job that will most likely kill them before they reach the age of thirty?”

 

“Of course, Keine. The more training they get, the less likely they are to die. It’s simple logic. Besides, they likely won’t be going out to solve incidents for five years at least, and most probably with supervision from the elder shrine maiden. They will be fine.”

 

Keine quickly ran through the options in her head. Agree, and allow the youkai sages to choose a child from her class to be the next shrine maiden, and almost certainly doom that child to an early death. Disagree, and... well, disagreeing with the youkai sages was problem enough.

 

There was the moral choice, and then there was the choice that wouldn’t make Keine the enemy of the most powerful beings in Gensokyo.

 

She sighed and resolved herself to face the consequences of her decision.

 

“Who have you chosen? Because, knowing you, there’s no way that you would come to me without making your decision already. So, who is it.”

 

The intruder stepped down from her seat in midair and walked up to Keine. “Would you at least think for a minute? Who, in your class, has no affiliations? Has no one she is close to? Who would be best suited for the life of near-isolation that is the Hakurei shrine maiden’s lot?”

 

Keine thought through her students. One consistently stuck out in particular. She was a cheery girl, quite enthusiastic about her learning, yet she never seemed to be truly friends with anyone she associated with. She was alone outside of school, too. Her family, if one could call it that, was the shopkeeper who had taken her in when she’d been found wandering the streets. When asked about her previous family, all she would say is that they “weren’t here anymore”. 

 

“...Reimu. That’s who it is, isn’t it?”

 

The intruding youkai looked pleased. “Quite right. I was so sure you wouldn’t guess it, too… It’s a pleasant surprise.”

 

Turning away, she looked pointedly at Keine and said: “I’ll notify the current Hakurei. If you would be so kind, please bring Reimu to the shrine to be introduced to her new duties within the current week.”

 

“Wait just a min-”

 

And she was gone.

 

And Keine would have to explain all this to Reimu on her own.

* * *

Birdsong was heard outside the window. The one who it was heard by yawned, blinked the sleep out of her eyes, and looked out the window at the bright, beautiful day.

 

The bird sitting on the windowsill curiously looked up at the girl as she stretched, barely caring that the sun had been up for less than a few minutes. 

 

Reimu was awake and ready to greet the day. 

 

Pulling on patchy clothes, she rifled through her bookbag, making sure she had enough paper for the day and all her books were there, then walked out of her room, jumped down the stairs three at a time, tripped on the last one, and dropped her bag while trying to catch herself. The thud it made could probably be heard half a mile away, or at least that’s what it seemed like to her.

 

Reimu’s mother sleepily looked on from the kitchen. “Careful, dear, you don’t want to wake the landlady up. Did you hurt yourself? If you didn’t, come in and get some breakfast, and if you did, come over here so you can get patched up.”

 

Her mother was nice, yes, but it didn’t seem right to Reimu. She felt like the lady, while kind, didn’t know the first thing about raising children. She much preferred her history teacher, Miss Keine. Keine left her alone to her books, didn’t ask too many questions about how she was getting along with those “nice friends of hers,” and generally wasn’t a nuisance. So when asked if she hurt herself, Reimu just shook her head no and grabbed an orange from the bowl. She waved and forced a smile, then skipped out the door to school. Maybe today wouldn’t be as bad as its beginning seemed like it was setting out to be.

 

When she arrived to history class, by all accounts, the day had not been awful. She’d found five yen on the ground, seen a flower fairy asleep in a flowerpot, and gotten rocks thrown at her by some angry older kids who didn’t like her for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that she had said that she didn’t want to talk? But she hadn’t wanted to talk. She had just wanted to finish her work.

 

Essentially, there had been both some good and some bad. But now she had Keine’s class! That would definitely balance out the rocks.

 

She happily walked through the door, not a care in the world. However, Keine put a hand on her shoulder. With an expression that Reimu couldn’t read on her face, Keine looked at her and sighed: “Come and see me after class, please. Don’t worry, you’re not in any sort of trouble, but it’s something very important.”

 

See her after class? What could be so important? Reimu wasn’t anyone special. As she muddled through history, “...was erected in 1885 by a collection of powerful mages, leading to...”, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had done something wrong. Maybe she shouldn’t have told the older students earlier to go live in the forest? That might have been a bit harsh.

 

But after class, when everyone else was filing outside for lunch, Reimu walked up to Keine’s desk and prepared for the worst. Keine had that unreadable emotion on her face again. Reimu, to be honest, was a bit nervous. What if she was flunking and nobody had bothered to tell her? What if she had actually gotten in trouble for earlier? But if it was for earlier, shouldn’t the older kids have been called after class too?

 

Keine cleared her throat. “Reimu, please stay with me here. I promise, you aren’t in any trouble.”

 

Oh, thank goodness.

 

“But this is very important, so make sure to listen closely.”

 

Reimu couldn’t have been listening more closely if she tried.

 

“You know about the Hakurei shrine maiden, right?”

 

Reimu nodded a yes.

 

Keine seemed to be taking an awfully long time to get to the point.

 

“Well, she’s going to be taking on an apprentice.”

 

She still did not appear to have reached the point.

 

“And, due to several factors, you’ve been decided upon. Congratulations!” Keine didn’t look like she was giving a congratulatory statement. In fact, she looked like she had a bad case of nerves.

 

Reimu was stunned. The Hakurei maiden was a creature of legend, a hero who only rarely visited the village to save the hapless villagers from youkai. And Keine, the teacher who she had looked up to for nearly her entire short life, was saying that she was going to be the next one? That Reimu could be a hero?

 

She looked up at Keine with an enormous grin on her face.

 

Keine sighed. “I guess that means that you don’t have any objections?”

 

Reimu enthusiastically shook her head no.

 

“All right. We’ll tell your mother about it, and then we can take you to meet the shrine maiden tomorrow-”

 

Keine felt a small tug on her skirt. “Today.” She glanced down to see Reimu insistently staring at her.

 

Keine realized that maybe, just maybe, this had been what the little girl had been waiting for her whole life. Maybe that had been why she’d constantly looked like she was in a state of limbo. She didn’t have a purpose, did she?

 

Even if that purpose was a life of constant strife and awkward diplomacy with beings far more powerful than she, it seemed Reimu had found her purpose.

 

And so, the pair set off toward Reimu’s home.

 

After a long talk with the shopkeeper, Reimu’s “mother,” Keine eventually managed to convince her that yes, Reimu would be fine, no, she wouldn’t be solving incidents right away, and yes, Reimu had consented to the position. This was certainly helped by Reimu’s enthusiastic nodding at the parts of Keine’s explanation that she agreed with. Afterwards, Reimu demanded to be taken to the shrine straight away. Apparently, she couldn’t wait to meet the shrine maiden in person, after admiring her from afar for so long.

 

As Keine followed Reimu up the stairs, she had to wonder how long that boundless enthusiasm would last. Especially when dealing with characters such as Keine’s unexpected visitor the night before. 

 

Just as she thought that, a testament to boundless enthusiasm’s tendency to wear down appeared at the top of the stairs, and it spoke.

 

“Hey, Keine. I heard all about everything from the most annoying being in the universe. She drank half my tea, too. Can you believe that? But anyway, I might as well introduce myself for Miss Infinite Energy over here, who seems to be attempting to jump up and down hard enough to spontaneously start flying. I’m Nokori Hakurei, twelfth shrine maiden of this glorious shrine. Miss Shrine Maiden to you. Now, what’s your name, little miss?”

 

It took a second for the little miss to realize she was being referred to and stop jumping up and down the shrine’s steps three at a time. Carefully, making sure she didn’t trip, she came to a halt. “It’s Reimu! Nice to meet you, miss shrine maiden!” And then, immediately afterwards, continued hopping.

 

Nokori just looked on in bewilderment for a few seconds, and then realized that she was supposed to be the impressive authority figure here.

 

“Hey! Wait up! You can’t just give a half-baked introduction like that! I’m supposed to be your superior here! You can’t just say ‘nice to meet you’ and then keep hopping up the stairs!”

 

Keine, in the midst of the two introducing themselves, had quietly left Reimu’s things by the door to the shrine and slipped away. She wanted to spend as little time feeling guilty as possible, so removing herself from the scene might be slightly helpful in that regard.

 

Reimu stopped hopping for five seconds and gave a tiny bow. “Very pleased to meet you, honorable shrine maiden of Hakurei. I apologize if my previous introduction was insufficient.”

 

Ten seconds later, she’d hopped her way to the top of the stairs and was heading down again. 

 

Nokori, who had previously been at the top of the stairs, was angrily following her down. “You apologize for that sarcasm right now or I’ll haul you back to the village over my shoulder! Do you think I’m kidding?”

 

Reimu stopped abruptly, causing the elder shrine maiden to bump straight into her and cause both of them to tumble downstairs on top of each other. As Nokori picked herself up, she heard a muffled voice from beneath her.

 

“Very sorry for the sarcasm. Now, get off of me, please.”

 

It seemed gravity had gotten through to her where stern words had not. 

 

Nokori dusted herself off, and extended a hand to the little girl. “Let’s go get you set up in the shrine, Reimu Hakurei. You’ve already passed the first test, in my opinion.”

 

As Reimu grabbed her hand, she questioned: “What was the test?”

 

Nokori almost smiled. “Getting me to like you.”


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Nokori had awakened to a splash. It was promptly followed by childish giggling, which led to a sigh of relief from the shrine maiden. Apparently Reimu hadn’t gone and drowned herself.

As she listened to splorching sounds get closer and closer, she hoped that the shrine maiden uniform she had for her apprentice would fit. If it didn’t, the girl would be sitting around in sopping wet clothes until Nokori had the time to drag herself to the village to get a couple new ones tailored.

The splorching sounds stopped, and Nokori opened the door. “Take off those wet clothes, there’s a screen up for you, and try this on. If it fits, good, if it doesn’t, you’re wearing one of my uniforms from when I was younger until we can get you properly fitted.” After this speech, Nokori glanced down, and put a hand to her head.

Reimu was standing on the steps, holding a positively ancient turtle. The turtle was making protesting noises, if muttering “Oh, I say!” could be counted as simply noises.

“Reimu, put Genjii back in his pond, then get back in here yesterday, got it?”

The child gave a wide, innocent smile. “Oh, you know him? I just wanted to show you the neat talking turtle I found! Well, I’ll be back yesterday, then. One second!”

The splorching momentarily moved around to the back of the shrine, there was another, louder splash, and the splorching drew nearer to the front of the shrine again. Reimu stuck out a soggy hand for the clothes, then headed inside.

A few (nearly) silent minutes passed. Then a tiny voice announced: “They fit!”

Reimu trundled out from behind the screen and placed her sopping wet clothes on the steps to dry. With the sun that day, they’d be bone-dry in no time. 

Her new red-white uniform seemed to fit her like a glove. Nokori remembered the first time she’d worn a shrine maiden’s robes, and they definitely didn’t fit that well. She distinctly remembered the top being far too big and poofing out like a cloud. But Reimu seemed to look like a snug little kitten.

Now, however, it was time to get a new uniform fitted anyway, since Reimu couldn’t wear the same thing day after day. She wasn’t a jaded twenty-something like Nokori, so it would actually bother her to do that.

“Alright, I know you just left the village yesterday, but we’re gonna need to go back there for some new uniforms, okay?”

“Yep!” Reimu was already bouncing at the top of the steps. 

Nokori dimly wondered if anyone would notice if she wore the same uniform she had yesterday. After a moment’s deliberation, she decided that they wouldn’t, if she had any say in it. So the shrine maidens, elder and younger, headed out for their first time together, not for an incident, but for clothes shopping.

The long trail to the village was treacherous, certainly, if one was a normal human. Fortunately, Reimu had Nokori by her side. That, even if she wasn’t known as the Hakurei maiden yet, protected her from the majority of problems that might crop up.

As the two reached the village, Reimu noticed people talking to each other, stealing quick glances at her and Nokori. Didn’t they know? She was a shrine maiden now! But as she strained to hear them, her brow crinkled into a frown. What on earth did they mean?

“Wouldn’t be surprised if she’s dead in a week…”  
“Or, she could burn out and then not even try to protect us, like our current protector of paradise is doing. Doesn’t she even know that even the smallest youkai can wreak massive havoc in the village?”  
“Yeah, it’ll probably be that. Like master, like student, the saying goes. So I guess we get to fend for ourselves for another couple decades, then, and just hope we get a better one then.”

Why were the villagers saying things like that about them? Reimu almost said something, then felt Nokori’s hand clap onto her shoulder. “Just ignore them. They wouldn’t volunteer for a job like this in their lives, so they gossip about us to make themselves feel less guilty about being useless.” The elder shrine maiden muttered. “They don’t even pay us for it, the morons.”

Ignoring the comments made by the villagers, Nokori dragged Reimu along, somewhat literally, to a beaten-up shop covered in patchy roofing. “This place is the cheapest in town, and their quality’s not completely awful, either. Pretty good deal, especially for a place in this part of town.”

The shop, inside, was dark, and a bit dusty. Bolts of cloth lined the walls, and an ancient sewing machine sat on the counter. Most of the cloth, Reimu noted, was in extravagant colors one wouldn’t be caught dead in in the village. The only ones who wore colorful clothes like that were the ones that could afford to stand out. The youkai.

As she mulled that over, footsteps sounded from the back of the store. As did, immediately after, a voice. “I’ll be out in a minute, Hakurei. And before you ask, I know it’s you because you’re the only human that comes down this street any time other than in one hell of an emergency. Red and white, as usual, right?”

Nokori opened her mouth, coughed a little thanks to the dust, and cleared her throat. “Yeah, red and white, but you’re gonna need the measuring tape too. It isn’t for me, you see.”

A rustling was heard from the back, and then a head popped out. A head decorated by fox ears. The kitsune looked at Reimu with mild curiosity. “A new shrine maiden? Well, I guess it is about time. I remember when you got your first uniform. Ahh, simpler times, simpler times! Well, come over here, kiddo. Can’t make you a uniform without measurements!”

The tiny shrine maiden looked at Nokori anxiously, and Nokori smiled. “It’s fine, it’s fine! I’ve known her since I was little. And besides, if she tries anything funny, she’ll have to deal with the wrath of the Hakurei shrine maiden. That’s more than enough to keep her in line, even ignoring the fact that she gets literally no human business besides me.”

With that reassurance, Reimu trundled over to the fox youkai, and listened to her chatter while she measured her. “But wow, sukima’s really choosing this one young, isn’t she? I think you were what, thirteen at least by the time you became a shrine maiden. You got proper training for a few years after that too. Alrighty, arms up, please! I need to measure your waist. At least tell me that she’s not going to be going on routine exterminations for a while yet?”

Nokori frowned. “Was I really that age? I thought I was more like twelve. But yeah, she’s going to get training till she’s at least fifteen or so, so five years. I’ve got my work cut out for me, alright.You gonna be done measuring in the next century or so? I’d prefer to not have the village burn down while waiting for you to make sure the inseam’s correct.”

The kitsune shook a pin at her. “Now, now. You don’t want this falling off while she’s learning to fly, or bunching up while she’s fighting a night sparrow or something and getting her stuck at an odd angle. Good clothes are half the battle, I’ll have you know! But yes, I am done now, miss impatient. You can go back over to the shrine maiden, sweetie. Oh, and this should be done by morning the day after tomorrow. Two nights is more than enough time for three uniforms, I think. If you want any more, it’ll be an extra fee, because I have to have a tsuchigumo’s ball gown done by Saturday and engineering frills around all those legs will be hell. See you two then, anyway! Payment due on completion, as usual. Breaking the stereotype of cheating kitsune, one dress at a time.”

The two left the store, and as they headed up the street, Reimu inspected all the passersby for any odd or otherwise nonhuman characteristics. What she came to find was that nearly everyone on the street wasn’t human. When she asked Nokori why, the elder shrine maiden shrugged. “They aren’t causing trouble, and they generally stick to the outskirts of town anyway. I have better things to deal with than exterminating a bunch of youkai shopkeepers.”

When they got back to the shrine, the sun was already starting to set. Reimu snuggled into her futon, after mumbling a sleepy “‘night, Nokori.” Nokori didn’t go to sleep for a while, though. She wondered why it had been so quiet around Gensokyo lately, so she stayed up, just in case something happened. Because if it did, the Hakurei shrine maiden would save the day, wouldn’t she? Even if Nokori’s predecessor had shown her that shrine maidens weren’t invulnerable, Nokori would do better. She’d made a promise to herself to live until she was an old hag. And by the gods, she would keep it, if not for herself, for Reimu.


	3. Chapter 3

Morning came, and nothing had happened. Unfortunate if Nokori wanted to be a hero, fortunate if she didn’t want to deal with youkai in the middle of the night while running on entirely too little sleep. Her nightmares had come back again, the ones that had started after the elder shrine maiden died. Running through darkness, blue flames flickering at her heels, then a woman dressed in blue and white in front of her, pointing a winged staff, and then darkness. And that was always when she woke up. Often at two in the morning, and of course, she could never get back to sleep after them. Just her luck.

Her train of thought abruptly came to the station as Reimu, wrapped in her futon, mumbled a hello, and immediately sat down at the kotatsu with a tangerine. Nokori, of course, couldn’t just leave the conversation there, so she elected to talk about their plans for the day. “Alright, today, we’re gonna do training. You need to be able to be able to fight to even stay at the shrine with me away, so that’s what we’re going to focus on first. You’re going to need to learn how to handle the yin-yang orb, even if you’re not going to use it for a while yet, and how to throw amulets. So let’s get started as soon as you finish breakfast, shall we?”

After the tangerine was devoured, the two shuffled out of the shrine. Nokori only shuffled, however, as she was carrying the idiotically heavy ancestral weapon of the Hakurei Shrine, the yin-yang orb. And two purification rods, and several dozen amulets, but they didn’t weigh twenty pounds. Dropping the orb quite abruptly, she announced: “We start here! Your training begins with kicking this thing-” here she nudged the ying-yang orb with her foot- “around the shrine grounds. You get a rice cracker for every ten seconds you keep it in the air. Good luck, kid.”

Determinedly, Reimu gave the orb a kick. It shot up into the air like it was made of rubber, seemed to twist and turn as if it were looking for something, didn’t find it, and promptly fell down, hitting Reimu in the head, hard. 

Nokori sighed. “Keep it in the air, okay? You can use punches, kicks, slides, whack it with a purification rod, throw some amulets, whatever, just don’t let it hit you while you’re not moving. It’ll assume you’re its target if it doesn’t find anything, so you either need to hit it out of the way, or dodge it until it loses momentum and settles on the ground, if you don’t want a bump on the head. I’d teach you how to throw amulets properly first, but youkai can fly, and you can’t, unless you convince Genjii that you weren’t trying to make him into turtle soup when you took him out of the pond, in which case he’d let you ride on his back. Anyway, keep it in the air for two minutes straight, and I’ll explain it to you.”

Even more determinedly this time, Reimu smacked it with the purification rod. It shot up into the air again, but this time, she was prepared for it, and slid into it when it came down, flinging it up again. It came down again, and this time she just slapped it, sending it back into the sky. It came dangerously close to hitting her the next time, but she just barely dodged, and haphazardly flung an amulet at it. Much to her surprise, it flew straight at it, not at all like the flimsy piece of paper it was, and hit it with just as much force as one of her punches. This routine continued for a while, until at last Reimu got into an uncounterable situation, and just slid out of the way. She glanced at Nokori, who was looking at her pocketwatch. “Ten minutes, impressive! Anyway, I’m supposed to tell you about the orb, right? Well, touching it is painful to youkai, but it won’t kill them on its own. I use special amulets for that, when I really get into a life or death situation. Mostly, though, I knock them outta the sky with this thing, and they give up, apologize, and stop doing whatever it is they were doing to bother humans. That isn’t all this orb does, though! It’ll stay by the side of the eldest living Hakurei maiden, so long as she’s in any kind of trouble. For example, it wouldn’t follow me if I was walking to the village to get groceries, but if I encountered some beast youkai or something on the way, it would fly straight over to me. Pretty cool, huh? Also, it has some other interesting properties, but I’ll tell you those later in your training. For now, though, combat training’s done, and you have to learn how to care for the shrine and its god, the other parts of being a shrine maiden.”

The pair went inside while Nokori explained. “The god of this shrine works in barriers, especially protective barriers. They are the reason, for the most part, that the Hakurei Barrier is able to function properly. As such, they must be given proper respect, and their dwelling, this shrine, must be kept a place where a god would wish to live. Thus, the shrine must be cleaned, offerings must be given, and you, eventually, must learn to speak with the gods. The two that will be performed most often are cleaning and giving offerings, of course, and that is why this is important.” Nokori handed Reimu a broom, keeping one for herself. “Let’s get to sweeping, shall we?”

Reimu enthusiastically claimed sweeping duty for the shrine’s exterior, which Nokori was perfectly fine with. It would help her get some much needed rest, after all, since the interior was so tiny. She finished in no time at all, and got to brewing tea. Reimu had had a long day, after all. She’d be sure to need some tea to keep her up, because Nokori was going to make her take night vigil with her. She’d have to get used to it, even if she’d have five years to train. Lucky her. Nokori had had two, and then she’d gone out incident-solving alongside the elder shrine maiden.

Until, of course, the day she didn’t anymore. It wasn’t something anyone could have predicted, after all; instead of dying and turning to smoke when the elder Hakurei had slapped an amulet on its head, the youkai had been stunned for a second, and then slashed her across the chest. Nokori’s life lost its color then, probably. She flung what seemed like a million amulets at the youkai, then dragged the shrine maiden back to the shrine to try and take care of her. By the time they got there, though, it was already too late to save her. Nokori always blamed herself, for not making sure to finish the youkai off. After all, it had been terrorizing the village for what had seemed like weeks on end; they should have been a bit more careful in exterminating it. Well, it was too late now, wasn’t it? Nokori was the elder shrine maiden now, and she had to be careful to make sure Reimu never ended up in the same situation she did. 

The one who she hoped wouldn’t end up in her situation came in and dropped her broom by the door with a clunk. “Done!” Reimu sat down at the kotatsu across from the stove, and nested her head in her hands. “What kind of tea is that, by the way? It doesn’t smell like the kind that I’m used to.”

Nokori started. “Oh, this? It’s red tea. I got it from a friend of mine. I say friend, but she’s more an annoyance than anything, really… Here, it’s done now. Have a sip.”

Reimu dutifully took a sip, then spluttered. “It’s strong! Not as bitter as I’m used to, but definitely strong. I can’t say I like it more than green tea, but it is good. Most tea is good.”

Nokori sat down across from her with her own mug. “That’s good. Are you liking it here, though? It’s a lot of work, but I think it’s a rewarding job. Rewarding enough to make me keep doing it, anyway. And considering what I’ve been through on this job, that’s saying something.”

Reimu gave a tiny little grin. “I think the parts of it I enjoy most are… bothering you, meeting new people, and combat training, in that order. Combat training is so low because I do not appreciate the bump on my head. Thanks for that, by the way. Really nice of you not to tell me it would come back and hit me in the head like it was searching for me. But overall, I think it’s pretty okay.”

“That’s good. Now, the last part of your job: night watch. Generally, I stay up once or twice a week to make sure there aren’t any youkai up to no good. And if they are, I go exterminate them. But you’re not gonna do that. You’re just gonna keep watch with me, and if I have to go somewhere, you keep watch until I come back, okay?” Nokori held her youkai extermination kit. “And if you go ANYWHERE at night without me, I will personally chuck the yin-yang orb at your head. Don’t do dumb stuff without me here.”

Reimu walked out to the porch, alongside Nokori. She was about to say something, then thought better of it, then thought better of thinking better of it. “Hey, Nokori?”

Nokori turned towards her in surprise. “What is it? Do you see something?”

Reimu quietly shook her head. “No, just wanted to say… I like you too. You remind me of Keine. Somewhat firm, definitely kind, and a good sense of humor when you’re not dealing with stupid stuff. You’re a good friend to me, even though we met just a couple days ago.”

Nokori ruffled Reimu’s hair playfully. “You too kid, you too. You’re a friend to me, even though we don’t know each other yet. But hey, we have a while to get to do so, huh?”

Under the light of the moon, the two shrine maidens laughed and chatted until dawn, after which the younger one abruptly became very sleepy. Nokori tucked her in with a smile. Was this what her predecessor had thought of her? If so, it just made Nokori miss her more. The pale light of dawn illuminated the shrine, and its shrine maidens, one who was fast asleep, one whose nightmares had kept her awake for days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all like Nokori.


	4. Chapter 4

The beginning of the day passed somewhat uneventfully, with Reimu, as usual, half asleep until the sun was high in the sky. Sweeping and training were finished quickly, if a bit sleepily. With that done, the two sat down on the porch. Reimu, Nokori noticed, had an uneasy expression on her face. She nearly asked why, but was interrupted by Reimu’s own explanation.

“I had a nightmare, Nokori.” Reimu leaned against her, her body tense. “I had a nightmare where you died. I don’t want you to die! You’re my mentor, and my superior, and, and, and…” The tiny shrine maiden’s sentence was broken off by her sobbing. Nokori just held Reimu against her chest. Reimu mumbled quietly: “And you’re my friend.”

Nokori just held her tighter. “Listen, Reimu, dreams are just dreams. I used to have awful nightmares about dying, but I’m not dead, am I? And besides, I made a promise. I promised myself that I’ll live to be an old hag, and then you’ll have to take care of me in my old age. You’ll have to deal with me for ages, kid.” Nokori ruffled her hair. “Got it?”

Reimu sniffled. “Yeah.”

The touching moment lasted for a good five seconds before footsteps sounded on the shrine’s steps. At the top of them, a villager appeared, who then dashed towards the shrine. Nokori stood up, holding her purification rod in front of her just in case they had any funny ideas. “What’s happened? Why are you coming to the shrine so early in the morning?”

The villager, panting a little, straightened up and said: “Demons! A gateway to another world has opened up, and demons are coming out of it! Hakurei, you’ve got to help us!” She sat down on the steps, gasping for breath. “Please.”

Nokori dashed inside the shrine, returning with the yin-yang orb floating by her side. “What other world? The Netherworld? Makai? Hell? Answer me!”

“I don’t know, shrine maiden. All I know is that a whole lot of demons are coming from it. So, probably not the Netherworld. I’m sorry not to be of more help.”

Nokori shook her head. “That’s fine. The culprit should be fairly obvious, whichever one I visit. So, if there isn’t a culprit, I’ll just assume that the other one’s at fault! And Reimu. You stay here, and take care of this nice villager lady, all right? Don’t go anywhere until I come back. Understand me? Do not go anywhere, at all, except for the shrine grounds, until I return. You are not getting hurt on my watch. I’ll be fine. I promise.” 

After saying this, Nokori began to float. Lightly, almost effortlessly, she began to move through the air, like she was floating in water. She gave a wave and a smile to Reimu, then drifted like a fast-moving cloud off into the sky. Reimu heard her yell “See you soon, kiddo!” and then she was too far off to see.

The villager sighed. “I feel bad sometimes, you know. We all gossip about the shrine maiden hanging around youkai, but when push comes to shove, she’s the only thing standing between us and them. If she wanted to take it personally, she could just abandon the village in a situation like this… but she never does. I doubt anyone from the village could take it upon themselves to ignore pettiness like that. You Hakurei do really float your way through life, don’t you?”

Reimu just shrugged.

“Anyway, I’m going to head back to the village. I certainly hope that Miss Nokori comes back all right! Have a good rest of your day, little one.”

The lady took what seemed like an eternity to walk down the stairs, and then Reimu was alone. She sighed, and went inside for a tangerine. Maybe Nokori would be back before sunset.

* * *

Nokori, as it happened, was in Hell. 

After unsuccessfully trying to find someone responsible for the sudden flood of demons in Gensokyo, she was about to head back when she met a ghost. 

The ghost, for some reason, acted like she knew Nokori. That would have made for an interesting conversational piece, if Nokori didn’t need to get to Makai, and the ghost wasn’t trying to kill her.

“Ahahaha! Hakurei, my old nemesis! So, have you returned, to seal me for once and for all? Well, even if you have, I shall not be defeated! Take this!”

A spread of bullets that looked like an odd combination of leeks and missiles flew towards Nokori. Of course, considering they were all aimed in a straight line, she dodged them easily. “Listen, ghostie, I don’t know you. All I want to know is where the demons plaguing Gensokyo have been coming from. If they aren’t from you, I’m just going to leave now.”

The ghost stared in utter surprise. “What? You don’t know the most powerful vengeful spirit of all time? Why not? You were the one that sealed me, after all. Hell is not a nice place, and you’re just saying that it wasn’t you that sealed me here? Ridiculous! I know full well the Hakurei shrine maiden sealed me!”

Nokori shrugged. “You’ve got the wrong Hakurei, buddy. I’m leaving now, and sorry about the fact that you’re in Hell and all, but it’s not my fault. See ya. Makai calls, ya know.”

She flew off, towards the door between worlds Shingyoku had opened for her. They were annoying sometimes, but they did provide a handy transport between other worlds, as long as you smacked them in the head with the yin-yang orb enough.

Mima simply shook her head. Those girls, flying carelessly through life. Eventually, something was going to bring them down. Even if it wasn’t her.

As Nokori flew past Shingyoku, she yelled “Heading to Makai, Hell wasn’t the problem this time. Thanks for the door, by the way.” She was sure they heard her, even though they were in their orb form. After all, the gate to Makai opened for her in less than half a minute, and there wasn’t even any distortion in the fabric of reality! She flew through.

* * *

Reimu snuggled up under the kotatsu. Whenever Nokori came back, she’d just have to make a big dinner, wouldn’t she? Reimu wasn’t touching the stove without her there. She’d probably burn herself, the food, and the whole shrine down. 

So, of course, she went to sleep instead. A calm, dreamless sleep, unlike her nightmare-filled sleep the night before.

Nokori would be back soon. She was sure of it.

* * *

Angrily, Nokori kicked the yin-yang orb at her opponent. “Listen, batgirl, I asked you a question. Are the demons coming from here? Yes or no. It’s not difficult to say.”

The bat-winged youkai grinned. “Weeeeell, YuugenMagan could have told you, but you knocked them out, so I guess you aren’t really going to get anything out of them, are ya? How about this. You manage to hit me five times, and I’ll tell you where she is.”

“Where who is?” The orb had missed, barely, but Nokori slammed it back again, following it up with some amulets. “The one behind this incident? If so, just tell me already! I’m sick of Makai. Everything’s either too hot, too cold, or there’s no solid ground to rest on. So tell me who the hell you’re talking about, dammit! I don’t get paid enough for this!”

Two of the amulets hit Elis. “Well, yeah, of course Makai’s the problem. And the culprit behind this incident is the one I was talking about. She’s a character, alright. The one you’re looking for is Sariel. She’s known as the Angel of Death, and she’s pretty impossible to miss. Huge wings, giant staff, like eight feet tall… Ow!” The orb smacked right into Elis’s face. “That’s three. Two more hits and I’ll tell you where she is- that is, if this danmaku doesn’t kill ya!” A spiral of tiny bullets punctuated her sentence.

Nokori spiraled as well. “The Angel of Death. Really.” She flung a good twenty amulets. “Try dodging these! The Hakurei shrine’s homing amulets!”

Elis swerved to the left, then the right, then up, but the amulets followed her wherever she went. She tried countering them with a burst of lasers, but the few that she missed soon caught up to her, adding up to seven hits. “Alright, alright already, I’ll tell you where she is. She lives to the west of Pandemonium. In the mountains there. Now, if ya don’t mind me, I’m gonna go home and patch up. Those things pack a punch, don’t they…” She flew off muttering about how her wings would bruise.

Nokori smiled. Soon, this incident would be solved, and she’d be able to go home and have tea with Reimu. She’d tell her all her stories, and someday they’d solve incidents together. 

As she flew through the mountains, Nokori noticed odd blue flames below her. Well, she wouldn’t be taking any landing breaks, would she? Ah well, it wouldn’t matter much. It was almost over, anyway.

She decided to fly low. That way, she wouldn’t be noticed unless she wanted to be. The flames were getting brighter now. Maybe they reacted to magical power? If so, she was headed in the right direction.  
Suddenly, she came to a halt. There, in front of her, was the woman from her nightmare. The woman in a blue and white dress, with six white wings. The woman turned towards her, pale blue hair somehow not catching fire with all the flames around it, and tilted her head to the side.

“Ah. Hakurei. I was sure you would come. After all, you shrine maidens always end up meddling in business that doesn’t involve you.”

Nokori fanned herself with her purification rod. “Do you think you could turn down the heat? I mean, I understand that it’s chilly here in Makai, but the fire’s kinda overdoing it. Anyway, why the demons? Were you trying to make a statement, or something? I kinda have the feeling that you’re just trying to go ‘oooh, tremble in awe at my power.’ It isn’t really working. Just letting ya know.”

The woman smiled. “Oh, of course I wasn’t just trying to make a statement. I was trying to get you to come here, in fact. You wouldn’t imagine how many demons want you dead, they all volunteered so nicely. You don’t even have a successor trained, do you? Quite the convenient situation for anyone who wants to invade Gensokyo, isn’t it?”

Nokori opened her mouth, about to argue with that “no successor” bit, and then thought better of it. “Sure is, but aren’t you forgetting a little something?” The yin-yang orb floated up in front of her. “You have to beat me first, idiot!” The orb flew at Sariel. “And I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but we Hakurei don’t tend to go down without a fight!”

Sariel dodged easily, blowing the orb out of the way with a gust of wind from her magnificent wings. “That’s what I was counting on. After all, it would be boring to just watch you die from a single hit. I expect you to put on a lovely show.” A blast of silvery, tiny bullets flew from the end of her staff. “Let’s have some fun with this, shall we?”

Nokori just barely grazed them. Amulets flew, countering the few that she couldn’t have dodged, and homing straight towards Sariel. “Yeah, life-or-death situations are definitely my idea of fun. Wouldn’t you prefer a nice cup of tea, or something? Don’t answer that, it’s a rhetorical question.” She flew upwards, out of the flames. “Then again, maybe you would prefer tea, and I’m making assumptions based on the fact that you’re trying to kill me right now. Who knows.” Another blast of amulets. 

“Oh, but the assumption’s correct!” Sariel shielded herself with her staff. “My, extermination amulets already? You really don’t like me, do- OUCH!” The yin-yang orb which had missed her earlier came back towards Nokori, hitting Sariel in the back on the way. “You little brat.”

Silvery lasers shot out at Nokori, one hitting her in the side. “Brat, yeah, but can you not call me little? You’re eight feet tall, everyone’s little to you! So that isn’t really fair. Wow, those lasers are not fun to be on the receiving end of.” Nokori set up a barrier between her and Sariel. “But good news is, I won’t have to deal with them for a bit! Have some more amulets.” Nokori flung out the amulets again, but her movement was considerably shakier this time. The laser had hit her in her left, on her throwing side. Two more like that, Nokori thought, and she’d be toast. Probably literally, considering she’d fall out of the sky and into the flames.

Three amulets clipped Sariel, but none enough to do any serious damage. “But will a bit be long enough, Hakurei? I can see you’re hurt. Do you really think you can kill me in time?” A wall of bullets erupted behind Nokori, forcing her to weave and throw amulets at them like a madwoman. “The answer is no. You cannot. So why don’t you just leave, and save yourself?”

Nokori grinned. “Me? Run away from a battle? You’ve got the wrong girl, lady. My job is to protect Gensokyo, even if it costs me my life. And it won’t. I’ll kick your ass so hard, you’ll still be hurting in your next incarnation!” She picked up the orb with both hands, tossed it, then smacked it with her purification rod while it was still in the air. This time, it hit Sariel in the chest, knocking her backwards.

“Strong words, for someone who can barely hold up a barrier for a full minute. It’s almost as if your mentor wasn’t there for very long!” Sariel giggled, crushing Nokori’s barrier with her staff. “Oh wait. She wasn’t. What an absolute shame. Youkai and demons alike have been talking about it, you know. With the little training you have, and your absolutely abysmal innate power, it’s no wonder that hundreds of demons agreed to my little plan! They knew it would succeed, after all.” She shot a delicate barrage of lasers across the field. One hit Nokori straight on, and another clipped her side.

Nokori gasped in pain, but then her face settled into a steely look. “Wow. Sure aren’t playing around, are you? Well, don’t worry. I’m not, either.” Focusing all her energy, she dropped so low the flames were nearly touching her heels. Couldn’t expend too much on flight, could she? Then, that focused energy, trapped inside of her, fought its way out, and caused an explosion that shook the earth. Vaguely, she heard Sariel scream. Everything was fuzzy, the ground below her was dark, and the flames ahead and behind her crackled. 

She came to a stop on the ground. Even though she’d probably be barely able to fly back to Gensokyo, she had to make sure Sariel was dead. She ran ahead, dodging the flickering flames, ignoring the pain in her chest, and found where Sariel would have fallen.

Yet, there was nothing there. She looked around, to be sure she wasn’t missing anything. Nothing in front of or behind her, or to the sides, for that matter. Only one last place to check. 

Nokori looked up, and there, lazily floating as if nothing had happened, was Sariel. “Well, you certainly took your time losing, didn’t you? Ah, but that doesn’t matter. Goodbye, Hakurei.” She pointed her staff at Nokori, and then everything went dark.

* * *

Reimu woke with a start. Something had just fallen onto the floor with a clunk, jarring her out of her sleep. She looked around, wondering what it was, and then saw.

It was the yin-yang orb, returning to its mistress, the eldest living Hakurei shrine maiden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations, Reimu! You're officially the Hakurei shrine maiden now!


	5. Chapter 5

Reimu nudged the orb, a puzzled look on her face. Why had it come back already? And where was Nokori? If the yin-yang orb was back, surely she should be as well. So why wasn’t she?

She poked her head out the front of the shrine, expecting to see Nokori there any second, laughing about how easy her job had been. Or maybe a little beaten up, but fine, just the same. Where could she have gone? It was nearly night, and Reimu hadn’t eaten anything besides a few tangerines all day. Apparently, she was going to have to make her own meal.

She sighed, and went indoors again. Plain rice couldn’t be that hard to make, could it? 

As she soon discovered, it could. But eventually, she ended up with a small bowl of somewhat dry rice. It was edible, by some definitions of the word. After finishing it, and cleaning up, Reimu peeked outside again.

Nokori still wasn’t there. 

Reimu turned, to dejectedly go inside, and noticed a light.

The yin-yang orb was softly shimmering, floating a few inches from the ground. She walked up to it, tapping it curiously. It gently bobbed up and down. 

She shrugged, and sat down again. She would be going nowhere until Nokori returned. 

The orb floated up to her, and bumped into her shoulder. She pushed it away. It bumped into her again. In annoyance, she turned to face it. “What do you want, anyway? I’m barely a shrine maiden. Go away and bug Nokori.”

It floated to the door, then waited there, almost expectantly.

“No, I’m not going out in the middle of the night to look for her. Go by yourself.”

The orb came back towards Reimu, and nudged her again. She threw up her hands in despair. “You know what? Fine. I’ll go and look for her, but if I get in any danger, I’m coming straight back here.” She rummaged through Nokori’s drawers, and pulled out several stacks of amulets, along with a far-too-tall-for-her purification rod. She walked outside, checking the trees for anything suspicious. The orb followed alongside her.  
“Alright, if you’re so smart, where are we headed?” Reimu muttered.

The orb bobbed gently up and down.

“Well, you’re no help. I guess I’ll just go wherever, then, and hope that Nokori magically turns up.” She set off down the path towards the village. Maybe Nokori would be heading back, along that path. With how little sleep Reimu would get if she wasn’t, she certainly hoped so.

* * *

After nearly reaching the village, Reimu started to feel an odd pull, almost as if a magnet were attached to her. It led down a small path, off of the trail she had been on. With the few leads she had, she decided to follow it. It couldn’t hurt, could it?

A bit after leaving the trail, the path evened out into a series of worn stone steps. So suddenly, in fact, that Reimu nearly tripped up them instead of walking. However, she recovered in time to notice the yin-yang orb at the top. Not her yin-yang orb, though. This one was taller than Reimu herself.

Cautiously, she walked up to it. When she touched it, it felt like cold stone, just as she had expected. A sort of energy could be felt flowing off of it, though- almost as if it was alive. Looking at her own orb, she questioned, “Is this thing related to you, somehow? Or is there just a yin-yang orb in the middle of the woods, for no particular reason.”

If the orb could have shrugged, it would have shrugged. As it was, it just bobbed up and down.

Reimu sighed. “Well, if it is related to you, I guess I know what I have to do with it.”

She kicked the giant yin-yang orb, as hard as she possibly could. Instead of shooting off into the sky, it simply floated a few inches into the air.

Suddenly, the orb shimmered with a blinding light, so bright the little shrine maiden had to shut her eyes. When she opened them again, a woman with deep red hair and very odd horns on her head was standing in the air, in place of where the orb had been.

Reimu shrunk back a bit. “Hello there, miss orb lady. I’m looking for someone, do you think you could help me find her?”

Miss Orb Lady nodded. “I can help. However, you have to prove something to me first. Prove you’re strong enough to be a Hakurei shrine maiden. If you do, I will give you passage into the worlds that your mentor journeyed to. I don’t know exactly where she is, but I do know she is in either Hell or Makai. And my name, as well as the name of my other forms, is not Miss Orb Lady. It is Shingyoku.”

Reimu, with no need for an answer, held her purification rod at arm’s length. Shingyoku simply smiled. “Good luck to you, little shrine maiden.”

Floating backwards, they unleashed a small cloud of bullets, aimed directly at Reimu. She slid to one side, into her own yin-yang orb, causing the bullets to miss her and the orb to fly at her opponent. As soon as Shingyoku took a hit, they shimmered, and when Reimu opened her eyes this time, a man in a priest’s clothes sat in midair, and fired off a widely spread bunch of shots. Reimu deflected them with her purification rod, and when her orb returned, she smacked it right back. After the next hit, Shingyoku reverted to their original form, that of an orb, and dropped towards Reimu from above. She barely moved out of the way in time, but successfully managed to send her yin-yang orb back at them, causing them to slowly glide down to the ground. They took the form Reimu had first been properly introduced to them in, and began to clap. “Congratulations! You’re quite skilled. But I’m afraid I don’t know which realm your mentor is in. So, you have a choice of two. Would you like to go to Hell, or Makai?”

The first choice was obviously the best choice, at least in Reimu’s somewhat strange opinion. “I’m going to go to Hell. Nokori had better be there, or I’m gonna go straight home. Thanks for your help, by the way, Shingyoku.”

Shingyoku nodded. Between a pair of trees behind them, the air shimmered, then the landscape changed completely, showing a land the color of rust. Reimu stepped towards it. “Thanks again!”

When she had passed through completely, Shingyoku shimmered again, reverting to an orb of stone. They fervently hoped Reimu would return, even though Nokori hadn’t as of yet.

* * *

Hell, as Reimu had imagined it, wasn’t quite like the place she was actually in. It was somewhat on fire, yes, but the part that was the most painful, in her opinion, was all the walking she was having to do. If only she had learned to fly! Oh well. She’d just have to take some breaks amid the flaming swarms of evil spirits. 

As she was taking one of those breaks, she felt an insistent tapping on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw an evil spirit holding a knife, and jumped back about fifteen feet.

The spirit frowned. “So, you. What are you doing here? I can see you’re a shrine maiden, from your choice of attire, but you seem a bit young to be going to Hell.”

Reimu simply raised a handful of amulets. The spirit sighed. “Not much for introductions, are you? I’ll introduce myself instead, I suppose. I am Mima, a spirit who vowed revenge against all of humanity, and was sealed in Hell for my deeds. I assure you, though, someday I shall return to the world of humans, and wreak my vengeance.” Mima raised her knife. “But since you don’t care, let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”

Reimu nodded. Mima sent a stream of tiny, monochromatic bullets directly at her. Instead of dodging as expected, several of them hit the child in the chest, causing her to cough. She dropped the amulets she was holding, instead opting to kick her yin-yang orb as hard as she could, hopefully at least scoring a single hit on the spirit. She stood up, and tightened her hair ribbon. Quietly, she muttered: “All right then. Time for another try.”

The amulets, of their own accord, floated up from the ground. Seemingly without a single motion from the tiny shrine maiden, they aimed themselves at Mima, closing in as she failed to notice the orb heading at her at a brisk clip.

Unfortunately for her, she managed to dodge exactly one of them before the yin-yang orb blindsided her, leaving her open to the amulets’ damage. And they did a lot of damage, knocking her knife from its ethereal grip and causing her form to flicker for a brief second.

“Hmph.” The spirit floated off. “I’ll remember this, shrine maiden! Just you wait. I’ll return, and destroy you!”

Reimu shrugged somewhat apologetically, and walked off. 

* * *

After walking so far that she wondered why her legs hadn’t fallen off yet, Reimu stumbled upon a marble door. Well, at least her intuition was bringing her somewhere somewhat interesting, even if she wasn’t entirely sure that that was where she should be going. 

An odd carving was inset into the stone, shaped almost like a girl within a coin. Well, tapping on random objects had brought Reimu plenty of luck so far, right? She placed a hand on the door, seeing if it would open at all, or if it was just decorative.

Apparently, neither outcome was entirely true, considering that as soon as she touched it, the door began to glow a soft bronze color. The coin-girl opened her eyes, and stared at Reimu.

After blinking a little, Reimu voiced a question. “Do you mind, um, letting me in? If you can, of course. And if it wouldn’t be a problem.”

The girl in the coin ignored her. “I am Kikuri. Since you have placed a hand on the door to the Astral Knight’s abode, it seems that you wish to enter. To do that, you will have to pass by me, its guardian.”

Reimu smirked. “A trial of strength? Silly coin. I’ve already done one of those! You’ll be easy compared to Shingyoku. Come on, let’s see if you can hit me.”

Kikuri slowly blinked. “It is a mirror. But very well.” Bullets began to spiral around her, forcing Reimu to deflect them with her purification rod. Reimu, of course, didn’t have to aim very much, considering the fact that she was fighting a door. She simply waited for her orb to return, and flung it back again. Much like a game of high-stakes supernatural ping-pong.

That, after shooting a few brilliant red lasers from the ground, Kikuri lost, with several amulets to her face. With a sigh, she floated away from the door. “Go as you will. Do be careful, however. The Astral Knight is an oni. An ancient, wise oni, but an oni nonetheless. She will probably wish to fight you. But, if you win, I have heard that she has the ability to see other realms in the blade of her sword. She may be able to guide you, lost shrine maiden.”

Reimu frowned. “How did you know I was lost? I didn’t tell you.”

Kikuri closed her eyes. “I simply knew.”

Reimu shook her head, and pushed open the door- then gasped. The ground beyond it was specked with stars, like the night sky. A blue column of light gently pulsed in the center of the room, and facing it sat a swordswoman, clothed in red and white.

The swordswoman turned, revealing a red horn on her forehead. The oni knight, no doubt. “Ah, I wasn’t expecting a visitor. Are you the Hakurei shrine maiden?”

“Um, I guess you could say that? I’m looking for my mentor, though. She’s the actual, proper Hakurei shrine maiden. I’m honestly not sure how I got this far, really.”

The Astral Knight stood. “If you got this far, you can surely be counted as a Hakurei maiden, no matter how long you’ve held the position. What is your name?”

“Reimu Hakurei. I’m looking for Nokori Hakurei. Have you seen her?”

The swordswoman shook her head. “I haven’t seen her, no. I am Konngara, little shrine maiden. I can help you find her, but on one condition. There are things in Hell far more dangerous than I, and if you can’t defeat me, I worry about how you’ll fare against them. So, take me on, and I will attempt to guide your path.”

With a steely look, Reimu looked directly into Konngara’s eyes. “I don’t care how many tests of strength I have to undergo. I have to find Nokori. Wherever she may be. Now come at me! I don’t have all night.”

“Very well.” The stars on the ceiling began to fall, revealing their true nature as danmaku. Reimu dodged them haphazardly, throwing amulets at the few that came close to her. However, the ones she didn’t deflect, and only dodged, stayed on the ground, and she ended up dodging directly into one.

Reimu hopped on one foot, holding her injured one. “Oh, come on, how could I have predicted that?”

With her free hand, she threw a few amulets, which caused Konngara to flinch when they hit. The oni retaliated, however, by slicing her sword through the air. In its place, it left a trail of pale golden lasers, flying in an even spread across the room. She slid to the side, smacking her yin-yang orb towards the pillar of light as it bounced past. This time, she heard an audible thud from Konngara’s side of the room. When she looked over, however, the swordswoman was calmly taking a sip from a bowl of sake. 

Konngara lightly waved her sword. A zigzag of bullets flew from it. Frustrated now, Reimu slid under them, then landed a flying kick on her yin-yang orb. It clipped Konngara in the head, causing her to stagger a bit. Seeing a chance, Reimu followed up with a set of amulets, knocking her opponent to the floor.

Konngara seemed to consider standing up, then thought better of it, and set down her sword. “You’re no oni, child, that’s for sure. You’re more one to avoid attacks than to counter them with your own. However. There are many ways of fighting. And considering how strong your opponents might be, I’d say yours is quite efficient.” She motioned for Reimu to come sit by her side. “Look at this.”

As Konngara held her blade up to the light, an image began to form in it. “I’m looking for where Nokori was a few hours ago. As of right now, I can’t find her.” Pale blue flames seemed to dance on her sword, contrasting sharply with the darkness around them. “This would be… Makai, wouldn’t it.”

Reimu nodded. “She said that the cause of the incident was either in Makai or here. It looks like it was Makai.”

Another, more blurred image seemed to form on the blade. “She seems to be in a fight with something. It looks like an angel, I think? Makai’s angels aren’t very kindly, so it makes sense she’d get in a fight with one.” An odd staff passed their point of view. “Especially this one. It seems she was in a fight with Sariel, and- oh dear. That had to hurt.”

Reimu peered over her shoulder. “What has to hurt?”

“She was hit by two lasers at once. And considering the kind of no-holds-barred match she seemed to be in, they’re rather powerful. Hmm?”

In the image on the blade, Nokori sunk low, towards the flames. Reimu looked at Konngara with a look of concern written on her face. “What’s going on now?”

Konngara shook her head. “I’m not quite sure. She could either be about to pass out from or exhaustion, or be gathering spiritual energy for-” A bright light shone from the blade, obscuring the pair’s view. “-For an explosion. Somewhat exhausting to the user, but almost guaranteed to obliterate one’s enemy.” The blade stopped shining as brightly. Konngara frowned. “And here we have an example of the almost.” Nokori could be seen sinking to the ground, while Sariel was nowhere to be seen. However, the ground around where the angel had been seemed to have been spared the quake, with its flames flickering just as merrily as they had before. “It seems that your mentor was out-predicted. That earth shows the telltale signs of being protected by shielding magic.”

Reimu grabbed the sword away from Konngara. “She’s got to be okay. I mean, Sariel’s already pretty hurt, isn’t she? She probably only just managed to shield herself from utter obliteration. Where’s Nokori got to? I need to see if she’s alright!” 

Konngara gently grabbed the hilt of the sword again. “Well, you won’t be seeing anything if I’m not holding the sword. I do want you to be prepared for what you might see, though, all right?”

Reimu closed her eyes for a long moment. She reopened them, tears pricking in the corners. “I think so. Well, I hope so.”

Konngara nodded. “I hope so as well. I’ve met Nokori before, you know. She was an admirable human.” The blade glowed again. Nokori appeared, walking through the flames. She looked exhausted, but she had amulets in hand- and the yin-yang orb beside her. “This still appears to be a bit in the past, judging from the fact that she still has the orb, and you have it now.”

The image blurred for a brief second, and Nokori seemed to trip. She picked herself up, and kept walking. After what seemed like forever, she came to a halt, and looked down. A puzzled look appeared on her face, and she looked from side to side. Reimu tapped Konngara on the shoulder. “What’s going on?”

“She seems like she’s looking for something.” A deep frown creased the oni’s face.

And indeed, Nokori was. She looked behind her, then from side to side once again. Nothing. She looked up. The image on the sword shifted, showing more of the scene around the elder shrine maiden, and Reimu gasped. Floating above Nokori, with a torn wing and a murderous expression on her face, was Sariel. 

Nokori took a step forwards, and fell to her knees. Sariel seemed to be saying something, but the sword’s magic didn’t extend to sound. Nokori staggered to her feet, and reached for her amulets, but she wasn’t quick enough. Sariel extended her staff, and there was a brilliant flash of light.

Konngara was about to say something, and then noticed Reimu. The little shrine maiden had buried her head in her knees, and was quietly crying. The swordswoman shook her head. “I’m so sorry.” 

Reimu’s shoulders shook. A strangled sob escaped from her.

Konngara laid down her sword and moved closer to Reimu. She lifted the child into her lap. Reimu hugged her and whispered, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t go back to the shrine, I can’t. I’ll be alone there, in the middle of the night. People are going to come and ask me for help, and I won’t be able to help them. I’ll be alone forever, since it’s not like I had anyone to begin with. And I’m probably going to die soon, anyway, since I haven’t had any training. I mean, look at-” Another sob. “Nokori. She had years of training, and she still ended up dead. I’ve been a shrine maiden for three days. Three. And people are going to expect me to exterminate youkai?”

Konngara bowed her head. “I know. But you’re stronger than you think, child. I can’t think of a single Hakurei shrine maiden that would be able to make her way through Hell with as much training as you have had. And no, you won’t be alone forever. I can think of at least one person who frequents the shrine often. And I’m sure you’ll meet more. As for Nokori, I’m sure her spirit will watch over you. In fact, I know she will.”

Reimu sighed. “What should I do now, though? I don’t want to go back to the shrine. And that angel’s still running around, and who knows what she’s up to. And I miss Nokori, and going back to the shrine’s just going to make it worse.”

Konngara set Reimu down on the floor. “Well, you’re a shrine maiden. There’s plenty of places you could go that aren’t back to the shrine. But where do you want to go? What do you want to do, Reimu Hakurei?”

Reimu blinked a few times. “I want to…” What did she want to do? Not go back to the shrine, not stay here in Hell, not go back to the village… Suddenly, she realized. “I want to go to Makai. I’m going to exterminate that angel. I won’t let the thing that killed Nokori do whatever she wants while I’m away from Gensokyo.” She stood up. “Is the way I came the quickest route out of Hell, or is there another, faster one?”

Konngara got to her feet. “There is a faster one, yes. But are you sure about this? Makai, in my opinion, is even less inviting than Hell.”

“Just tell me where to go. Please.” Reimu turned away.

“Alright. I’ll guide you out.” Konngara walked to the marble doors. “And good luck, child.”


	6. Chapter 6

Reimu took a deep breath. Standing in front of Shingyoku, with the choice to go to Makai right in front of her, she realized what a choice she was making. This wouldn’t be something she’d be able to just walk away from. She’d either come back from it alive, having exterminated Sariel for good, or she wouldn’t come back at all, and Gensokyo would be left on its own.

But of course, she knew what she had to do. Nokori deserved vengeance. And Reimu deserved an at least somewhat peaceful life as a shrine maiden, not a life of living in fear of whatever might come out of Makai.

“Shingyoku! Open a door to Makai. I need to go there, on behalf of the Hakurei shrine!”

An impressive announcement, if it wasn’t made in the high-pitched voice of a ten-year-old. Nevertheless, the enormous yin-yang orb shimmered, and a silvery door appeared in front of Reimu. It opened, and behind it appeared a dark wasteland, punctuated by streaks of fiery magic every few seconds. Without hesitation, Reimu entered, with her yin-yang orb trailing behind her.

* * *

The dark ground wasn’t very helpful for travel on foot, as Reimu noted when she tripped over a rock exactly the same color as the rest of it for the fifteenth time. The obsidian was beautiful, certainly, but the cracked rock combined with the magical miasma in the air led to a very unpleasant walking experience, overall.

Ahead, Reimu noticed crackling yellow magic convening on one point in space. Warily, she approached it, being sure to avoid protruding stones now, as the magic gave off enough light for her to see them. She saw a figure there, which seemed to appear and then disappear again, like a will-o-wisp. When Reimu came closer, she saw that the figure was what appeared to be a being entirely made of magic, the same type that had convened on that point in space seconds ago.

Hesitantly, she spoke. “Um, are you, you know, alive? Or are you some kind of ghost, or a magical construct, or something?”

The being flickered, and turned towards her. “How odd. Sariel told us there weren’t any other shrine maidens, besides the one who came earlier. Yet here you are, asking foolish questions. You’re just a child, really. Shouldn’t you go home?”

Reimu frowned. “Who is ‘us’? And I obviously do exist, so whatever Sariel told you is wrong. I wouldn’t trust her if I were you, anyway.”

The magical construct faded, and around where it had been appeared five bloodshot eyes. “We are YuugenMagan. And Sariel’s information has always proven trustworthy before. She must have simply made a mistake. Nevertheless, we need to get rid of you before we can go on in our plan, so would you just stand still and die, please?”

Reimu dashed forwards, ignoring the warning. The construct sighed. “Nothing is ever easy, is it? Very well.”

Crackling yellow lightning chased her, forcing Reimu to roll out of the way and fire off a few amulets above her. The roll abruptly stopped when her back made contact with a rock. The amulets, however, hit one of the eyes, before the lightning came dangerously close to Reimu’s skirt, requiring another roll, this time directly into the yin-yang orb. Not stopping to see whether it hit, Reimu hopped to her feet and dashed backwards, waving her purification rod to deflect the few stray bullets that came from where the lightning had hit.

The orb had made contact, apparently, as the lasers that erupted from YuugenMagan next only came from three of the eyes. Despite being few in number, they did temporarily manage to set Reimu’s skirt on fire, before she flung another batch of amulets, causing another pair of the eyes to shut and YuugenMagan to screech at her.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing, little girl? Sariel will kill you. You have no chance, and you’re throwing your life away for a world that will come to hate you!”

Silently, Reimu flung the yin-yang orb at the remaining eye, and after it hit, quietly questioned: “What plan, and where is Sariel now?”

The magical construct reappeared, more transparent than it had been before. Balefully, the being would have glared at her if it had eyes. As it was, they simply turned toward her. “You can ask her about the plan yourself. She’s in the mountains, to the northeast of here. Don’t expect to get there easily, though.”

The being flickered out, and the eyes blinked a bit before closing into a seemingly quiet slumber. Reimu edged around them carefully, just in case, and headed northeast.

* * *

She noticed, as she progressed, the ground getting lighter, fading from black, to deep red, to orange, to a pale gold. The magic snaking through the land had darkened, however, from sunny yellow to a somewhat unsettling green. She didn’t seem to be getting any closer to the mountains, either… perhaps some magic was holding her back? She looked around curiously. And noticed, perched on an overhang of rock, a fairly large bat.

Desperate for some conversation at this point, she walked closer. “Hey, bat. I’m looking for someone. An angel, rather tall, blue dress, six wings? Have you seen her?”

The bat fluttered into the air, and was immediately surrounded by an odd magic circle for a few seconds. When the circle disappeared, the bat was no longer a bat, but a batlike girl, with a self-confident smirk on her face. “Sure I’ve seen her. But why are you asking? Ya don’t seem like the kind of person she’d know. In fact, the only ‘person’ she’s ever known at all, that she didn’t kill, is Lady Shinki’s daughter. Oh wait, is that maybe why you’re looking for her?”

Reimu scowled.

“Wow, apparently that’s a yes. Judging by your uniform, you’re a shrine maiden, so it was probably the last lady who came through here, huh? Do you even know why she killed her?”

Reimu fairly shook with anger. “I. Don’t. Care. Now tell me where she is, instead of vaguely ‘in the mountains, somewhere’, or I’ll exterminate you.”

The little devil giggled. “Wow, touchy, touchy. Humans die all the time, you know. What does it matter that one particular human didn’t end up dying of old age? Anyhow, I’m afraid I can’t actually tell ya where she is. Breach of contract, and all that. So, fight time, is it?”

Reimu whacked the orb into the air. 

It hit the bat girl in the chest, momentarily knocking the wind out of her. When she recovered, she noted: “Yep, fight time. I’m Elis, by the way. Remember that name in Hell.”

A barrage of thin, brilliant red and yellow lasers arced towards the ground where Reimu stood. She slid backwards, and flung several amulets, hitting her opponent on the wings and clipping her head. The girl gave a derisive snort, then surrounded herself with a magic circle, taking the form of a bat again. She flew at Reimu, who attempted to run, but was far too slow. As a last resort, Reimu stuck out her purification rod, smacking the bat out of the sky.

Elis reverted to her girlish form, and with a stormy scowl, threw herself bodily at Reimu. “You won’t defeat Lady Sariel. I’ll just have to make sure of that, won’t I?”

Reimu rolled to the side, fumbling for something. Elis stood still in the air for a moment. “What, are you looking for an excuse to run away?”

The child shook her head and held out an amulet. “I’m sorry about this, but you are trying to kill me. I’m really sorry.” She threw it, with little ceremony.

Suddenly, recognition dawned on Elis’ face. “Where in the hell did you get your hands on-”

It hit her before she could finish. Her form shook for an instant, and then she dissolved into a cloud of white smoke.

Reimu turned away, and said to no one in particular: “I wish Nokori were here. She wouldn’t have had to kill that youkai. She probably could’ve just knocked her out, and gone on her way. But I’m too weak, so I had to use that amulet. I’m sorry.”

She began to walk towards the mountains again, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. This time, they started to get closer.

* * *

Reimu arrived at the mountains, out of breath, legs heavy, but determined now. The flames ahead of her crackled, and she looked through her packet of amulets. She’d grabbed a bit of everything, so there should have been a few fire-warding ones. And indeed, there were. She knotted one around her purification rod, another she affixed to her leg, and the third she tucked into her hair bow. That would be enough.

She stepped forwards into the blue fire ahead of her, pleased to note that it didn’t actually burn her at all. Carefully, looking above and around her, she proceeded, being sure not to do anything that would attract attention.

The flames slowly grew taller, eventually nearly reaching her waist. A faint, silvery light shone ahead, quickly approaching. As it did, Reimu began to hear wingbeats, and her heart quickened. 

The silvery light approached, beginning to take the form of a tall, winged woman. When the woman noticed Reimu, she came to an abrupt halt.

“What in the hells are you? The Hakurei shrine maiden didn’t have a successor. I asked her about it. What are you doing here?”

In a shaky voice, Reimu called out: “I could ask you a few more questions than that! What is this ‘plan’ the demons have been referring to? Why are you sending demons to Gensokyo? And why did you kill Nokori?”

Sariel delicately alighted on the ground. “You wouldn’t understand, you’re just a child. Go home, or you can join her in Hell.”

The yin-yang orb softly shimmered, in a different way from the fire’s blue light. “I said to answer me, not to make vague threats.”

Sariel slowly blinked. “Well, if I must. I’m sending demons to Gensokyo to scout out for my future invasion, which will be happening tomorrow, after I kill you. Secondly, I killed Nokori because she was a threat to my plans. The Hakurei shrine maiden could have made a significant dent in our invasion forces by herself, and she, normally at least, is acquainted with several of the youkai sages. My plan would be over before it had begun, had I let her live. Satisfied?”

Reimu blinked as well. “Not really, no. I think, actually, that that speech convinced me even more of the fact that I have to exterminate you. Thanks for making up my mind.”

Sariel took to the air. “You humans are rather idiotic, aren’t you?”

Five silvery lasers headed straight towards Reimu, the first four to box her in, the last to attempt to hit her straight on. The shrine maiden froze for a moment, then rolled diagonally forwards, throwing an extermination amulet and kicking the yin-yang orb as she got up off of the ground. Both hit Sariel, but the amulet only caused her to flinch, while it had turned Elis to smoke. The orb, however, flung her backwards, but she easily recovered from that, and flew higher.

“You see, Hakurei? You can’t hurt me. Why are you even trying?”

A flash of light erupted from her staff. Reimu shielded her eyes, and noticed the bullets that the light hid, heading directly for her. She dodged backwards, and threw a handful of extermination amulets. When they hit, causing Sariel to lose focus and her bullets to disappear, she gripped her shoulder in pain. “Damn it! You aren’t as stupid as the last one, I see.”

Large, shimmering silver bullets erupted from Sariel’s staff. Reimu tried to dodge them, but they were just too close, and it seemed like they hurt even if she didn’t hit them. With a sore chest and right arm, she smacked her orb into the air with her left hand, and followed it up with another batch of amulets. Eventually, she’d wear Sariel down, wouldn’t she? Both the orb and her amulets hit straight on.

The angel quietly cursed. Tiny bullets erupted from the ground around Reimu, but she swung her purification rod at them, sending them to the side. One barely clipped her foot. The yin-yang orb returned to her side, and she slapped it into the air. It hit Sariel in the head, and she dropped her staff. 

The angel grabbed her head, seemingly in pain, and closed her eyes, sinking slowly towards the flames. “All right, all right! I surrender. You can come and seal me.”

Reimu walked forwards, sealing amulets in hand. 

Just as she was within arm’s reach, Sariel opened her eyes. “Idiot.”

A shockwave of spiritual power erupted from Sariel, knocking Reimu backwards, onto the burning ground. Two of her fire protection amulets blew off from the blast, leaving only the one in her hair ribbon to shield her. It was then that the tiny shrine maiden noticed the excruciating heat. It made her head feel numb, and she tried to sit up, but clutched it in her hands immediately afterwards. A splitting headache tore at her focus, and she dropped her packet of extermination amulets. 

Sariel alighted on the ground. “Well, well, well. It seems the new shrine maiden is indeed rather naive. What a fortunate situation for me.” She picked up her staff. “This is goodbye to the Hakurei shrine maidens for good, I suppose. I did have a bit of a false start, but it’s all been fixed now, thanks to your staggering stupidity.”

Reimu dropped the yin-yang orb. No point in holding it if there was no way she’d survive long enough to use it again. Everything was over now, right?

Something moved to her left, and she glanced towards it, ignoring the pain in her neck. Nothing was there, was it? What could be moving? Then, she saw.

An amulet twitched a tiny bit, then floated off of the ground. Reimu struggled to her knees.

Another amulet floated upwards, beside the first. Then a third. Reimu got to her feet, curious now. 

A fourth, fifth, and sixth amulet lifted off from the ground. Reimu felt an odd sensation, almost as if she was lighter than air. She looked forwards at Sariel, and her stance steadied. 

Sariel pointed her staff, with all anticipation of landing the final blow.

The floating sensation grew stronger. Reimu’s head cleared. Vaguely, she noticed that she seemed to have gotten a bit taller. Wasn’t that strange? And she was still growing in height… wait a minute, her feet weren’t touching the ground. She hadn’t grown, she was flying.

The entire packet of amulets she’d dropped took to the air beside her. Without thinking, Reimu flew higher. The amulets followed. Sariel’s expression was one of utter shock.

She looked at Sariel, feeling nothing but calm. Sariel shook herself out of her stupor, and fired off a barrage of lasers.

When they met Reimu, they passed right through her, doing no harm at all. She looked down at herself curiously. Then the amulets began to glow, with a pale pink light. 

Sariel flew back a bit, and held up her staff, attempting to form a shield. Somewhere in her mind, she knew it would be useless, but she had to try anyway. After all, her invasion of Gensokyo was at stake. She couldn’t lose now.

Reimu’s eyes grew glassy, and she unconsciously held out a hand in front of her. The yin-yang orb floated into the air again, and began to circle around her, so quickly it seemed to Sariel that there were multiples of it. Surely, though, that was just her imagination.  
Immediately after, though, Reimu’s amulets began to follow the orbs- an eighth of them for each, forming a shield with their rows around the young shrine maiden. Then, almost lazily, the amulets directed themselves towards Sariel. They began to glide towards her, but in response, she simply flew upwards, faster than they could catch up. Instead, though, the amulets sped up, to a greater speed than even her current one.

She shot back at the amulets, thinking to just destroy them all before they reached her. Instead, though, they passed unharmed through her shots, and closed in. She flew, faster now, towards the sky, and Makai’s cold stars. The amulets still followed, clipping at her heels now.

As a last option, she conjured up a shield. Creating that blast had sapped most of her energy, but the shield didn’t need to last long. Just enough to sap those amulets of some of their power.

...They passed through, again unharmed. Sariel screeched when the first amulet reached her unshielded body, but with the following ones, she was left in too much pain to even make a sound. It took approximately ten extermination amulets to finally cause the Angel of Death to turn to nothing but a cloud of pale smoke.

Near the ground below, Reimu closed her eyes, and sunk into a faint.

The flames around her disappeared, leaving nothing but warm, dark earth.

* * *

A few minutes later, several gloved hands gently picked her up. The shrine maiden of Hakurei would be a liability if left unconscious in Makai, after all.

Reimu didn’t notice leaving the ground, and disappearing into a void, her yin-yang orb following her. She didn’t notice the hands carefully leaving her on her futon, nor did she notice them hesitate for a second, then pull a blanket over her.

She didn’t notice them leaving a message on the floor beside her, tied with a red ribbon, then one gently patting her on the head.

She didn’t even notice the voice that softly spoke, following their disappearance.

“Reimu… or well, I suppose you’re the shrine maiden now, so until we formally meet, Hakurei… I apologize. I thought that you’d have a bit more time, to be honest, to simply be a child. You have quite the life ahead of you, so I hope, for Gensokyo’s sake, of course, that the next few years are at least relatively peaceful. See you when you’re old enough to decide that I’m enough of a bother to fight, little one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, it's me. Wow, I bet you weren't expecting this to ever be finished, were you? Truth be told, the last chapter's been sitting in my drafts, nearly completed, for a month or so... Whoopsie. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my personal interpretation of our favorite shrine maiden's past! (Unless your favorite shrine maiden is Sanae, in which case more power to you, but she isn't exactly living in Gensokyo yet at this point in time.)


End file.
